Why would I purchase plastic food containers when I already have some? I wouldn’t.

The amount of plastic waste generated by a single family American home, by a single person home for that matter, is staggering. We, as a culture, generate an amazing amount of non-composted trash, and much of this will not be making it into the post-consumer recycle process or breaking down in our landfills.

I heard someone say once “when they dig us up in 2000 years they’ll call us the “plastic civilization”. That is ironic on several levels, but I also found it rather embarrassing, and admit I thought it true. Considering the treasures we ourselves have dug up from past civilizations, things we place in museums and see auctioned off for millions of dollars, golden artifacts, once beautiful pottery and the like, our buried treasures are going to pale in comparison.

It may seem like a small contribution to re-use the plastics we all end up with once the foods they came in are gone, but multiply your plastic encased or covered purchases by the number of houses on your street or number of houses attached to your school district or town, and I hope you’ll realize too, that plastics are all of our problem.

We see much more recycling of plastics than we’ve seen in the past, but recycling plastics is an expensive business and there aren’t nearly enough companies doing it. Much of the plastic you see with the recyclable sign do not get recycled. It’ll be a good day when there’s enough companies to recycle the majority of plastics people throw away each day, but that day has not arrived. As it is, there’s an active association of plastics recycling companies and that is good, but until I am assured the majority of plastics are being recycled I’m going to keep using the ones my foods come in and otherwise lessening my purchases of items encased in plastic.

Granted some of the post-consumer containers I use are not see-through, and I suppose that’s part of the attraction to people’s need to purchase “glad ware” and the like. I use a sharpie pen and/or tape to easily mark and identify what’s in a particular re-used container in my freg, freezer or pantry.

Have you heard of Garbage Island? Garbage Island is a floating mass of trash twice the size of Texas, floating out in the Pacific Ocean. Journalist Thomas Morton did a documentary on Garbage Island. When I saw that documentary, I was once again shocked and embarrassed. NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assoc., calls these floating phenomenons “garbage patches” and has some very interesting information about them on their site. I don’t want to be part of a culture that creates such things. But, since I am, I’m going to do what I can to decrease my contributions. Click on the NOAA map, below, for more information on our garbage patches.

All of us, or at least most of us, remember the campaign to cut the plastic six pack rings that hold a six pack together so they would not harm our natural wild-life. I do not see that campaign publicized anymore. Surely those who invented this plastic six-pack holder did not imagine that their invention, something that made them wealthy and helped an industry keep their cans together, would harm wild-life and otherwise start a national campaign to cut each of the circles on the thing to save wildlife from certain death getting caught in them. But, those little plastic six pack things have been very harmful to wildlife, resulting in deformation, starvation and death to animals who unwittingly get stuck in them. The picture, at the end of this post, of a turtle who sadly became deformed by a six-pack net is linked to a blog post by eco-logical on the harms of these, and other, plastics to our environment. That post also includes a lot of pictures of six-pack plastic trapped animals.There’s been a lot of information published, filmed and covered on all of this plastic trash we create, what happens to it and what doesn’t, and as an environmentally minded person I’ve read or seen a lot of it, but this week I’m adding my voice to the reminder, we still need to work against our trash making it into our oceans, our landfills and our homes.

Xtra trash is not necessary and while cleaning out the cupboards is a labor of necessity, this week it is also a seed for a new blog post, and acknowledgement that I’m interested in working on lessening my plastic consumption. When they did us up I hope they’ll see our art, our science and many of our efforts to better ourselves and how we leave our planet.

Hope you’ll, consider your own purchases as a way to lessen our plastic foot print, and even save money, cut all of your six-pack nets, pick up plastic trash you find on our beaches and otherwise do your best to lessen the amount of harmful plastics in our environment.

– Best wishes – Gwen

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PS: My lack of posts in the last year is attached to other commitments and issues that have monopolized my time. I am glad to report that I am seeing the other side of both and look forward to being motivated to more blogging more often.

Growing and recipes for salsify, part of the asteraceae/sunflower family, are just recently making the popular grade as gardeners and weed pickers alike realize it’s got a delicious root you can use in cooking. The leaves are also edible and best used off of young plants.

Many gardeners have considered this weed a problem for its prolific re-seeding and growing habits. But, with new attention toward heirloom produce, this weed is now something many gardeners and organic growers are paying attention to.

I too, used to consider this plant a weed until I attended a gardening class at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia some years ago. Since that time I have never had to cultivate this plant, because it comes up fine on its own and does very well re-seeding where I live in the Pacific Northwest. I have used the root young and old, but prefer the younger version for its easy pulling and flavor, though the older roots are worthy too. As Barbara Damrosch mentions in her article (below) the salsify root is best used fresh but will hold well in the refrigerator and can be dried or dehydrated.

Recipes for salsify are logical to what you may think a long carrot or parsnip would be; it can be shredded, chopped and kept whole. Don’t let the milk which comes out after pulling and/or cutting scare you off as it quickly turns a sort of rusty color after the air has hit it. When I pull my salsify I let it sit in a bucket of water, to help disperse the milk and loosen the dirt until I get to cleaning, storing or cooking it.

Especially good is salsify fritters. Some of my favorite recipes come from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall who writes for The Guardian in the United Kingdom. But, fritters are a fav. Also good with salsify are soups, stews, salsify chips among many other usages. Simple search “salsify recipes” on a search engine for more recipes.

I have included 3 of Hugh’s recipes here, along with Barbara Damrosch’s article from Jan 2012 in the Washington Post and the content of the Wikipedia page for salsify. ALL good reading, headed toward good eating!

DON’T look down on this interesting and delicious root, anymore! It’s time Salsify was included in your purchases, gardening and culinary pursuits. As far as cultivating salsify, it’s as easy as growing weeds. But this post is about cooking, so if you want to know about cultivation, click here and Kenny Point will plow you through it. Once you’re done learning to grow Salsify, enjoy, and educate yourself on Kenny’s very fine gardening blog.

Many European countries have salsify in cans available to cooks.

Like me, Hugh (Fearnley-Whittingstall) thinks salsify is a good root with a fine future! As I visit the gardens of friends I always make sure I inform my friends that the weed they’ve just pointed out as “pretty, but a real problem”, is a good vegetable root they can enjoy in a number of ways. YOU can also slice and dry salsify for long storage and carrying in your backpack or camper for that yummy soup you’ll make on your next over night hike or camp out. Drying will greatly reduce the weight of this root vegetable. Below are some of Hugh’s ideas for this fine somewhat ugly, but delicious root. The link to Jane Grigson’s suggestion for salsify is great too. Salsify is good eating in many recipes, soups, stews, salads, and just roasted with olive oil like Hugh shares below.

CARRY ON AND ENJOY EATING YOUR WEEDS – especially SALSIFY! – Gwen

~~

“The simplest way to prepare these lovely roots is to peel them, put them in a roasting tin, trickle over a little olive or rapeseed oil, add a few bashed garlic cloves and a bay leaf, and roast at 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for 20 minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt, or follow Jane Grigson‘s excellent suggestion and sprinkle on some gremolata, that zingy southern Italian condiment made of lemon zest, finely chopped garlic and parsley. Or boil or steam them until just tender, chop small and serve with a mustardy, garlicky vinaigrette and perhaps a few pieces of diced ham, rather as you might with a celeriac remoulade.” – Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Salsify fritters

A great brunch or lunch dish, and perfect served alongside a few crisp rashers and a fried or poached egg. Makes six fritters. – Recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Peel and coarsely grate the salsify. Warm 20g of the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the salsify until softened. Transfer to a bowl and mix with the garlic, chilli, coriander, egg and flour. Season generously, then form into six fritters. Warm the remaining butter and the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, and cook the fritters until golden, about four minutes a side.

Salsify tempura with a spicy dipping sauce

Crisp, battered salsify is delicious with this easy dipping sauce, but it’s also great served simply with a little flaky sea salt and a few lemon wedges. Serves four as a starter. – Recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

First, make the dipping sauce. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan, place over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Now raise the heat a little, bring up to a simmer and cook until reduced and syrupy, about five minutes. Pour into a small bowl and set to one side until you are ready to serve.

Fill a medium-large saucepan with water, bring to a boil and cook the salsify for five minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, then rub off the skins and cut the salsify into 4cm pieces. Whisk the ingredients for the batter – don’t worry if it turns out a bit lumpy.

Heat 10cm of oil in a deep, heavy-based saucepan until it registers 180C on a frying thermometer or a cube of bread goes brown in 30 seconds. Dip the salsify in the batter and deep-fry a few pieces at a time until crisp and golden, about a minute. Serve at once with the spicy dipping sauce. alongside.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6 and butter a gratin dish about 26cm in length. Put the lemon juice into a large bowl along with some cold water. One by one, peel each salsify root, cut into 4cm x 1cm batons and drop straight into the lemon water to prevent discolouring. Repeat with all the roots.

When the salsify has been prepared, drain and transfer to a saucepan along with the stock and wine. Bring up to a simmer and cook for five minutes, until tender but still with a bit of bite.

While the salsify is cooking, put the kale in a large pan with a centimetre or two of water and cook for about three minutes, until wilted. Drain the salsify, reserving the stock, and set aside. Return the stock to the pan and simmer until reduced by half.

Meanwhile, mash together the butter and flour with a fork. When the stock has reduced, keep it simmering and add the flour paste in little nuggets, whisking all the time. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens to the consistency of single cream. Stir in the double cream and remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Lay the salsify and kale in the gratin dish, and pour over the creamy sauce. Combine the cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.

~~

Below is an article by gardener and writer Barbara Damrosch – for the Washington Post – Jan, 4, 2012

Salsify, a root vegetable that does double duty

By Barbara Damrosch

Readers of this column have had some strange dishes offered up to them over the years. Of the lesser-known crops I’ve suggested you try, a few might not have won you over. Was the saltwort a little too prickly, the Malabar spinach too vicious? Then again, maybe you found great uses for them.I figure being adventurous in what you grow makes gardening more fun and can lead to new favorites. And the reason many of these foods are obscure may have more to do with the needs of long-distance shipping than whether they are good to eat. This is what gives the home gardener or local grower such an advantage. It might seem like the supermarkets have everything, but here’s the big secret: Potentially, you have a much wider repertoire.

So you’re going to have to trust me about salsify. This is a white root — rather like a parsnip but skinnier — that keeps beautifully in the ground. Like the parsnip, it’s planted in spring, as early as the ground can be worked, then allowed to grow all summer and fall until the first frosts bring out its flavor. You can then pull it up during thaws, saving some under refrigeration if you like, but it will shrivel a little and is best dug and eaten fresh.

When you do this, don’t be dismayed by the way those roots look. They are tan and shaggy with coarse side roots. They make me think of the tabloid headline “Movie Stars Without Makeup.” Just wait till they’re all dolled up.

The dolling-up consists of peeling them with a vegetable peeler to reveal the snow-white flesh, then placing them into a bowl of water acidulated with lemon juice, to keep them that way. Or not. If you’re going to brown them in butter it won’t matter, right? And that’s just what I do with them after I’ve steamed them for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on size.

I also use the greens, which look like tall, wide grass blades. The light-colored part of the leaf, the bottom six inches or so, is tender and delicious, like the bottom of a leek, so it gets a thorough washing and then a quick butter saute, along with the roots.

The most surprising thing about salsify, the first time you eat it, is its flavor. Traditionally it is called “oyster plant,” a name as inaccurate as it is unappetizing. The roots taste nothing like oysters, and nothing like parsnips either. They taste like artichoke hearts — unlike the so-called Jerusalem artichokes that are said to taste like artichokes but don’t.

This is a great two-in-one crop. Greens and roots tend to nourish us in different ways, and the role of roots is to bring up minerals from deep below the soil, especially a taprooted plant such as salsify. That’s why it’s important to give these crops a deeply cultivated soil with plenty of compost dug in. And by the way, have you ever tried two of salsify’s even more obscure taprooted cousins, scolymus and scorzonera. Are you curious?

~~

Wikipedia page for Salsify reads as follows:

ragopogon, also known as salsify or goatsbeard, is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family Asteraceae that has over 140 species, including the vegetable known as salsify, as well as a number of common wild flowers, some of which are usually regarded as weeds.

Salsifies are forbs growing as biennial or perennial plants. They have a strong taproot and milky sap. They generally have few branches, and those there are tend to be upright. Their leaves are somewhat grass-like. Flower colour varies within the genus, with some yellow species, and some bronze or purple. Seeds are borne in a globe like that of a dandelion but larger, and are dispersed by the wind.

The salsifies are natives of Europe and Asia, but several species have been introduced into North America and Australia and have spread widely there.

Some of the more common species of Tragopogon are known, in the regions where they are most common, by the common names goat’s beard, goatsbeard, salsify, or common salsify, without further qualification. These names are therefore inherently ambiguous, and best avoided, or reserved for the genus collectively. In the species list below, the first common name given is the one that seems to be most widely used for that species and is not in significant use for any other species.

The vegetable called salsify is usually the root of purple salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius; the root is described as having the taste of oysters (hence the alternative common name “oyster plant” for some species in this genus), but more insipid with a touch of sweetness. The young shoots of purple salsify can also be eaten, as well as young leaves[1]. Other species are also used in the same way, including the black or Spanish salsify, Scorzonera hispanica, which is closely related though not a member of the genus Tragopogon.

Dream

Create a Memorial Day Rolling Thunder event

for Whidbey Island & the Pacific Northwest.

~~

Photo’s below are from the Official Rolling Thunder event in Washington DC.

Gwen’s idea of a perfect day!

Memorial Bridge facing Arlington Cemetery – Opening Helio Fly Over – waiting for the protesters to depart the Pentagon parking lot (where they assemble at 9am) and come thundering down the George Washington Hwy, past Arlington Cemetery across Memorial Bridge to the Viet Nam, Korean, Nurses, WWII and WWI (small little memorial a lot of people miss) memorials. I (Gwen) attended 16 consecutive Rolling Thunder Memorial Days in DC. Each was like the first! Overwhelming pride and reflection of who we are, as a people and country.

Rolling Thunder started with a simple thought by one man. Honor those Missing in Action and Prisoners of War, with a motor cycle run to Washington DC.

Ray Manzo, from Hoboken, N.J., loved and served his country, and was driven by the pain he felt for those he knew we left behind. Coming home from Viet Nam, trying to live, he longed to throw a flag up, look for, find and recover his forgotten comrades. Ray had to act. He wrote hundreds of letters to those he thought could help and would happily go find and recover their enlisted. He spent years keeping the flag high. And then one day, he conceived a motorcycle run in the nation’s capital to show the country and the world that abandoned American soldiers in Vietnam still mattered to their fellow servicemen and the country for which they sacrificed their freedom. Finally, an idea for protest on a mass scale. With the help of those he pitched the idea, Ray continued to pursue the ride it, making it happen.

Since that first ride, in 1987, when it was hard to count the numbers riding into DC from all over the country, “each run has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger”. Today, the run participants number up to 500,000 riders and 900,000 supporters. And it takes 10 days for the Carry the Flame riders to get from California to Washington.

In those early years it was difficult for some to stick their necks out for a, public, war demonstration. Those who’d served or were actively serving, and those who loved them, had big fear of protests. But with good, decent and passionate motivation and leadership, organizing, and recruiting Rolling Thunder has grown leaps and bounds every year. Today with the support of the hundreds of thousands of civilians who join them, it’s ourVets, their needs, the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, the War Memorials and motorcycles that “rule the day”. On Memorial Day in our nations capital a war protest, that could not be more fittingly, emotionally moving and noisy!

I honor Memorial Day and our warriors, every year, tearfully and with Rolling Thunder! Even now, from a distance, I am transported there, in real time, at my computer, by the hundreds of people who are there and uploading the day from their phones! Thank you. It’s a pleasure to have the tears, fight for and celebrate our military, and feel Rolling Thunder on Memorial Day! The least I can do!

With Lotto prizes around the country reaching historic peaks – the question circulating around the net is “WHAT WOULD YOU DO if YOU WON?”

I know what I would do, and have had this plan for A LONG TIME!

Firstly, call my lawyer, call my broker (invest), pay down bills, pay off all family member homes, UNDERWRITE 50 MOTOR HOMES, 50 Veterinarians, 50 Vet assistants and all their supplies to provide FREE SPAY AND NEUTER services in every state for as many years as my investments will allow. Following that I would spend a butt load of money putting heavy restrictions on and regulating animal breeders.

WAIT – there’s more ( I hope I win A LOT!!!) I would start an abused living creature organization to help people and animals who are unable to defend themselves from cruelty…

Then I’d buy a vintage truck, AND OF COURSE – GIVE! GIVE! GIVE! to human many assorted services and sustainable agriculture organizations.

Human and animal abuse is a tragic and horrible result of our throw away society, in my opinion. Humans have always had the ability to be cruel – but with our wants and needs today it seems we are ever more able to produce sad and pitiful existences for many living creatures (humans included) who could otherwise be happy and healthy

Sounds like big projects – OH – Well – I’ve always been one to THINK BIG!

And if I win one of the smaller amounts – I’ll down size the plans you read here and generally do the same.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH YOUR BIG BUCKS! NO need to be philanthropic in your desires if you don’t want to be. Don’t let my plans trip you into not being honest about your plans. Different strokes for different folks with their big bucks.

I’ve sat down to type this with a racing heart, ears tuned to the recording I captured today, and excitement to get this written and posted fast, in the hope you’ll CHANGE YOUR PLANS, and be at South Whidbey High School tomorrow night at 6:45!

What could be more perfect, in the dead of winter, than to be transported to Russia with the exultingly moody, brightly traversed, and powerfully portrayed music of Russian masters like Tchaikovsky, Prokoviev, Rachmaninov and Rimsky-Korskov? Not much, by the response of the packed house at today’s concert of From Russia With Love.

Joined by accomplished violinist Lara Lewison, a 13 year old pianist, violinist and singer, this concert is, all at once, an amazement, and a tour de force of excitement!

On the stage you’ll see friends, neighbors and that familiar island face, performing some of the most fantastic music Whidbey can offer, leaving you inspired with what is possible during our winter months.

This concert left me invigorated on a slightly chilly drizzly winter day.

~

Tomorrow – Monday – January 30th – at 7pm – at South Whidbey High School

you’ll have the chance to brighten your horizons, in the dead of winter, all the way from Russia – with love.

~

Photo: Kim Tinuviel

~ CHEERS AROUND THE EARS – OF CONDUCTOR LEGH W. BURNS ~

~ the SARATOGA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA and LARA LEWISON ~

~

Tchaikovsky – Cossack Dance from “Mazeppa”

Prokoviev – Violin Concerto #2, Op. 63 Lara Lewison, violin

Intermission

Rachmaninov – Vocalise Op 34, No. 14

Rimsky-Korsakov – Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34

CONDUCTOR: Legh W. Burns has been the music director and conductor of THE SARATOGA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA since its inception. He is Professor Emeritus of the University of Oklahoma School of Music and former first trumpet with the United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C. where he founded and conducted the Washington Chamber Ensemble. Additionally, Mr. Burns has taught at Springfield (IL) Junior College and the University of Denver, where he founded the National Trumpet Symposium and was founder and conductor of the Festival Chamber Orchestra of Denver.

Mr Burns is a graduate of The University of Miami (FL) earning a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance. He lists Pierre Monteux, Herbert Blomstedt, Richard Lert and Renee Longy as conductors and musicians with whom he has studied.

He is also very interested in the development of young musicians, having founded and conducted the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra and the Oklahoma Youth Symphonies and founding The Guy Fraser Harrison Academy for the Performing Arts. Youth orchestras under his direction have successfully undertaken performance tours in thirteen foreign countries, including a concert tour of The People’s Republic of China in 1981. For this, he was awarded the Music in Education Award by the Governor of Oklahoma.

THE ENSEMBLE is comprised of musicians from all corners of Whidbey Island and individual members of the SCO have held or currently hold positions in the Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Boulder (CO) Philharmonic, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Everett Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic as well as other regional and community orchestras and musical ensembles. The unique multi-generational membership of the SCO, allows talented youth of the community to perform alongside adult members in a professional-educational setting.

Mark Brady, Ph.D. is a neuroscience educator. He co-founded the Children’s Grief Program at Kara, a public service agency in Palo Alto, California where he only stopped volunteering upon moving to Whidbey Island.

In addition to being a long-time member of the graduate research faculty at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, he writes a weekly column on social neuroscience for parents (The Committed Parent).

He is the prize-winning author of a number of books, magazine articles and academic papers. Two recent titles are: Safe and Secure: A Guide to Parenting with the Brain in Mind and A Father’s Book of Listening. These and other titles can be ordered wherever fine books are sold on the Internet or by emailing: paideia@gmail.com. He is currently working on a new book on helping children escape childhood unscathed. It will be available in September, 2012.

Listen to Jody and Larry share with Gwen just what the Giving Circle is, what they do, and how you can get involved with this powerfully generous group of island residents. People who do good work and have a good time doing it.

The Whidbey Giving Circle is a community of Island County citizens who pool resources to support LGBTQ equality and young people on the island. Membership is open all who make a financial contribution of any size. Annual gifts range from $15 to $5,000. Every gift is powerful and earns the donor opportunities to vote on key Whidbey Giving Circle grants and scholarships. Members are encouraged to help guide the annual grant and scholarship cycles by reviewing applications and working with a committee to determine annual awards. Affiliated with Pride Foundation, the Whidbey Giving Circle began in 2007 and has since grown to nearly 70 members, providing approximately $20,000 of annual support to organizations, community leaders and students.

From September to January, the Whidbey Giving Circle hosts houseparties and educational sessions on the island to link community members and provide key opportunities to learn, socialize and make an annual membership commitment. From February to June, both grants and scholarships are determined. The group celebrates their investments and enjoys the sunshine together through an annual summer picnic.

Prior grantees include: Citizens Against Domestic & Sexual Abuse for their work to support LGBTQ youth across Whidbey Island and the Whidbey Children’s Theater for productions that address LGBT related issues and spur thoughtful conversation and learning within the community. The Whidbey Giving Circle has provided 8 scholarships to student leaders.

Pride Foundation has invested over $20,000 in eleven organizations that serve Island counties LGBTQ community. Much of this funding comes from the Whidbey Giving Circle, a group of Island residents that come together every year to raise and distribute funds on Whidbey. In addition, numerous Pride Foundation scholars hail from this area.

Currently, grants to nonprofits (besides those made by the Whidbey Giving Circle) are made from Pride Foundation’s Cascadia cycle, which is administered in Seattle, WA. A key goal of Pride Foundation’s is to have an active Pride Regional Community established in this area, so all funding decisions are made at the local level. We have begun working towards this goal and will continue to update the community as we progress.

If you would like to learn more about getting involved with the Pride Foundation please send us an email or call us at 1-800-735-7287.

Available Grant: Whidbey Giving Circle
The Whidbey Giving Circle is accepting grant applications for organizations and programs on Whidbey Island that benefit LGBT youth or raise awareness.
Grant application must be postmarked by April 5, 2011. – Download the application

Unavailable Grant: Cascadia Grants – Grant application will be available in Summer 2011.

ON a special MAIL-IN only ballot set for May 17th – Whidbey General Hospital will be asking property owners of Whidbey Island to OK a 50million dollar bond to increase and improve the hospital’s health care services to the community.